By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
TNA Thursday Night Impact (Episode 1,133)
Taped March 28, in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Alario Center
Simulcast April 2, 2026, on AMC, AMC+, and TNA+
The Impact intro theme aired… Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. McKenzie Mitchell was the ring announcer…
TNA World Champion Mike Santana made his entrance. Hannifan noted that Eddie Edwards will challenge Santana for the World Title at TNA’s next official PPV, Rebellion, via Eddie’s Feast or Fired briefcase. Santana allowed the crowd to chant his name before hyping up the town. Santana talked about going to battle with Steve Maclin at Sacrifice. Santana said Maclin is one of the toughest SOBs in wrestling today.
He said he dropped Maclin. Santana talked about how his father told him to always keep his word. He said he promised to leave Sacrifice as world champion and he kept that word. Santana said Eddie Edwards tried to catch him slippin’ but TNA made things official and booked the world championship match between him and Eddie. Eddie Edwards and Cedric Alexander made their entrance.
Eddie bragged about pinning Santana on last week’s Impact. He said at Rebellion he’ll take the title from Santana and TNA will be run by The System. Santana said Eddie doesn’t even believe his own damn words, because if he believed he can take Santana, he’d step in the ring now. Cedric cut in and said that Leon Slater will also be losing a title at Rebellion, the X Division title. Leon Slater made his entrance.
Slater pointed out how he beat Alexander a few months ago, and will do it again. Cedric said that was then and now is now. He said The System will also get the Tag Team titles come Rebellion. Mustafa Ali and Order 4 made their entrance. Ali said Rebellion will also be Order 4’s night because he’ll win the International title. Trey Miguel made his entrance and talked about how it feel like one of those formula segments where you walk out any time someone addresses you.
Trey talked about how Ali always hides behind Order 4. Trey dared Ali to fight him alone like a man. Ali joked about Jada Stone leaving him in the last match they were involved in. Santana said it was enough with the talking, and it should be time to throw hands. Ali pointed out the numbers advantage he had on his side. Moose made his entrance and tossed around The Great Hands.
TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella made his entrance. Santino then booked Cedric, Ali, Agent Zero, and Eddie Edwards vs. Moose, Trey Miguel, Mike Santana, and Leon Slater in a match “right now”. Santana called for a referee…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Your classic WWE Teddy Long formula opening to set up a tag team match between feuding babyfaces and heels. An okay formula as long as you don’t run it into the ground like WWE did when Teddy Long would do it every week to the point where it became a tired meme. TNA has a little bit of a problem, in that their heels are a bit weak to the point where they aren’t taken seriously. That really stood out when Leon Slater pointed out how he already beat Cedric Alexander (on top of Alexander eating more losses since then).
1. Mike Santana, Leon Slater, Moose, and Trey Miguel (w/Alicia Edwards) vs. Eddie Edwards, Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali, and Agent Zero (w/Tasha Steelz, Jason Hotch, John Skyler). Moose shoved around Ali. Cedric tagged in and hit Moose with a kick. Moose came back with a Uranage and Senton. Eddie got a cheap shot in on Santana. Santana came back with armdrags and a dropkick.
Slater tagged in and hit Eddie with tandem moves with Santana. Slater got a two count on Eddie after a running senton. Slater hit Eddie with a elbow and diving huracanrana. Cedric hit Slater with a backbreaker on the apron. Alexander rallied with chops and a dropkick for a two count. Slater came back with a spinning heel kick and tagged in Trey Miguel. Ali also tagged in.
Trey hit Ali with an impressive DDT Suicide Dive. Trey got a two count on Ali after a Meteora. Zero tagged in and gave Trey a chokeslam.[c]
The heels cut the ring in half on Miguel while the extra wrestlers at ringside got cheap shots in on Trey. Trey got a window of opportunity on Cedric after hitting him with a Lionsault. Santana got the hot tag and hit Eddie with a dropkick combo. He then hit Cedric with a Suicide Dive. Santana hit Eddie with a Slingshot Dive. Ali broke up the pin.
The wrestlers took turns hitting dives at ringside. Moose caught Ali with a Power Bomb on the apron. Moose and Zero then traded hands. Moose hit Zero with a SuperPlex. The wrestlers took turns hitting each other with signature moves. Santana tossed around The Great Hands and hit Zero with Spin the Block. Santana caught Cedric with a Rolling Buck 50. Eddie caught Santana with a Boston Knee Party for the win.
Eddie Edwards, Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali and Agent Zero defeated Mike Santana, Leon Slater, Moose, and Trey Miguel via pinfall in 15:15.
Hannifan pointed out that Eddie pinned the world champion two weeks in a row…
John’s Thoughts: The right decision to put Eddie over given he’s presented as the top heel of the company heading into their next PPV. Right now it’s tough to see him as a top heel (I feel like you have wrestlers like Nic Nemeth, Mustafa Ali, Bear Bronson, or Frankie Kazarian who would be easier to elevate). I guess they still have the Alicia Edwards heel turn in their back pocket, but that feels like the most predictable step in their development.
“The Suit” Daria Rae barged into Santino Marella’s office and berated him for continuing to book impromptu matches. Daria also wondered if he was trying to find out who attacked Nic Nemeth at Sacrifice. Santino said Daria was late for work. Daria said to “shut up, I’m talking” because she was at a board meeting. Daria said at the meeting, they discussed that the winner of this week’s main event will defend the Knockouts title at Rebellion against Lei Ying Lee. Daria then told Santino to get out of her office…
Hannifan hyped upcoming segments…[c]
A replay aired of Ricky Sosa signing his TNA contract at Sacrifice. They then aired ai bunch of wrestlers welcoming him to TNA at the Gorilla Position. Eric Young then got in Sosa’s face and informed him that he’s the gatekeeper of TNA. Young told Sosa to watch is back…
TNA Tag Team Champions, Matt and Jeff Hardy made their entrance. A picture-in-picture showed Matt Hardy bloody and laid out backstage by Dutch at Sacrifice. Matt took the mic and talked about how they assumed that the Righteous would betray them at Sacrifice. He said they could have been a great team while also making money and magic. Matt then went into Broken Matt mode and talked about how Dutch kept smashing his head into a way again and again.
Matt said the Hardys will be laid out. Jeff said the Righteous didn’t make a sacrifice, they made a mistake by hiding behind lies and fake smiles. Jeff said he thought he had brotherly love with Vincent by painting his face. Matt said they need to talk about apocalyptic consequences. Vincent and Dutch made their entrance. Vincent said they are still a great team because they attacked the Hardys for the Hardys.
Dutch said love isn’t gentle. Dutch then talked about how Matt is stronger than death. Dutch said the Hardys aren’t sacrifices, but offerings. Vincent said he sees the old Matt trying to survive something greater. Vincent said the Hardys have something they want. Not titles. Not money, which they gave back so they can stay in the game (Their Ring of Honor paycheck?). Vincent said whatever is it, it’s still breathing.
Matt challenged The Righteous. Vincent pushed the challenge off. Matt then asked for a match “next week”. Dutch agreed and said the match needs to be “extreme”. Jeff said they’ll have a tag team tables match…
Separate shots of Tessa Blanchard and Jody Threat were shown as they were walking backstage. The bloody and distorted bunny from the Rosemary segments prevented Victoria Crawford from following Tessa to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A bit weird how they’re handling the Hardys vs. Righteous feud, as we’ve seen this chapter already in December; but at the same time the company was in lame duck mode and I wouldn’t fault the company for almost treating that time period as non-canon (the weird NXT Birthright invasion, I would definitely treat as non-canon). The logical next step of this feud is Vincent and Dutch winning the tables match next week, only for this to lead to a cinematic match between the Hardys and Righteous.
Arianna Grace and Stacks confronted Mike Santana backstage and joked about how Mike Santana is not taking care of business like she is. After Grace and Stacks left, Santana shrugged and said “they don’t even work here”…
Entrances for the next match took place. A replay aired of Mila Moore hitting Jody Threat with a shoe, which got Tessa the win at the Sacrifice pre-show. Tessa tried to attack Jody before the bell, but Jody saw it coming. Hannifan noted that Dusty Rhodes made bunkhouse matches famous…
2. Tessa Blanchard vs. Jody Threat in a Bunkhouse Match. The bell rang once both women were in the ring. Jody loaded the ring with weapons. Tessa hit Jody with a Wrecking Ball kick and then got boos after putting the table under the ring. Jody ducked a trash can shot. Jody hit Tessa in the knees with a trash can. Hannifan noted how both women were struggling to carry around the production crate.[c]
Jody sent her knees into a chair when Tessa dodged her. Tessa dodged a cowbell. Tessa then dropkicked Jody into a cowbell in the corner. Jody then tied Tessa in the corner with an electric cable. Jody tortured Tessa with the lid of the production crate. Tessa then took her own and the referee’s belt to beat up Jody with it.
Jody powered through, and hit Tessa with an F5. Tessa held on to the belt that was wrapped around Jody’s neck. Jody passed out.
Tessa Blanchard defeated Jody Threat via ref stoppage in 9:12.
Ryan Nemeth ran into BDE and Frankie Kazarian backstage. Ryan said he knew Frankie didn’t attack Nic Nemeth and asked him who he thinks did it. Frankie said it was probably “this mark” BDE. BDE said he doesn’t like being accused by Ryan and Frankie. Frankie called BDE “STD”, and said you never point a finger at him like that. Elijah showed up, causing Ryan and Frankie to walk off. Elijah said if he needs help shutting them up, call him…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Frankie calling BDE an STD was a good heel line. Anyways, fun enough PG hardcore match. The booking of Tessa has been odd. I know why they’re doing it, but it’s also not like the way they are pushing her is productive either. It’s like they’re ignoring her radioactivity, but also feeling obligated to put her in an undercard segment each week. It reminds me of those doghouse storylines in the WWE video games where you get punished by only being able to work Sunday Night Heat or Velocity, except this is a real doghouse for Tessa.
The show cut to a cinematic where Tessa followed the white rabbit this time. A “to be continued” graphic aired. Hannifan noted we just saw a peek into “the undead realm” (gawd dammit)…
AJ Francis made his entrance first. Home Town Man then made his entrance in a Drew Brees jersey…
3. AJ Francis vs. Home Town Man. Francis no sold HTM and then shoved him around. HTM rallied with right hands and dumped AJ to ringside. HTM tried to body slam AJ, but AJ fell on him for a two count. AJ hit HTM with the Flop Dolla Tennessee Whiskey knee strike. AJ spat on the Drew Brees jersey and tossed it to ringside. HTM managed to body slam AJ. AJ caught HTM with a spear and Down Payment Chokeslam for the win.
AJ Francis defeated The Home Town Man via pinfall in 3:48.
Francis took the mic and mocked the crowd. He then told the production team to air footage of Nic Nemeth laid out at Sacrifice. Francis said he laid out Nemeth backstage. AJ talked about how he made his debut in TNA by pinning NXT Champion Joe Hendry. AJ then talked about how he’s beaten all the fan favorites since then.
AJ said Nic likes to call himself “The Showstealer,” but he keeps stealing opportunity, after opportunity, after opportunity. AJ said it doesn’t matter who. He named a bunch of his past opponents, and said he’s the showstealer. The crowd booed him. He told the crowd, that reaction is why he never wanted to play for the New Orleans Saints.
Ryan Nemeth then walked out. Ryan backed down. AJ said he’s going to do to Ryan what he did to Nic, leave him without a pulse in Cleveland. AJ said that’s because he’s the best big man in the business, and that business is money money money. Hannifan noted that AJ just challenged Ryan to a match in Ryan’s hometown of Cleveland at Rebellion…
Backstage, Lei Ying Lee had Robbie Brookside on FaceTime, who then wished his daughter Xia Brookside luck. Lei Ying then hyped Xia as they were heading to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I’m happy that they didn’t try anything cute with Home Town Man getting any real offense in. AJ Francis is arguably one of the best heels in the company and I can get behind them elevating him to the main event picture. A little bit of an odd decision to book him in a match against pest heel Ryan Nemeth, but I’m going to assume that leads to a real feud with Nic. I really hope they put AJ over Nic somehow. Part of that is because by turning Nic babyface, you’re also thinning out your heel roster by removing one of the most credible heels that this company has.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt checked in on commentary. They ran through the matches advertised for Rebellion so-far. Former WWF Wrestler One Man Gang (a.k.a. Akeem) was shown in the crowd…
John’s Thoughts: If Akeem and Raheem form a tag team, can we call them the African Dreams?
A tale of the tape aired. Entrances for the main event took place. McKenzie Mitchell handled the formal in-ring championship match introductions. TNA President Carlos Silva was sitting at ringside…
4. Arianna Grace (w/Channing Lorenzo) vs. Xia Brookside (w/Lei Ying Lee) for the TNA Knockouts Championship. Brookside dominated early on with chain wrestling. Xia dumped Grace to ringside with armdrags.[c]
Xia rallied back with right hands. Xia hit Grace with a Meteora and leg sweep. Xia hit Grace with a neckbreaker for a two count. Grace came back with a knee and neckbreaker. Stacks handed Grace the cobra sock. Xia hit Grace with a Tornado DDT. Stacks broke up the pin by grabbing Xia’s leg. Brookside gave Grace a Thesz Press at ringside and then tossed her into the steel steps.
Xia gave Stacks a Tornado DDT. Xia stepped on the cobra sock and then grabbed it. Xia and Grace did a tug o war with the sock. Xia shoved Grace into Stacks and then got a two count off Grace. Grace hit Xia with a Pump Kick. The referee prevented Grace from using the belt. Xia hit Grace with a Codebreaker for a nearfall. Stacks got on the apron for a distraction.
Lee hit Stacks with a Spear off the apron. Grace hit Xia with the title belt. Grace then gave Xia a TKO to the knee for the win.
Arianna Grace defeated Xia Brookside via pinfall in 11:45 to retain the TNA Knockouts Championship.
Stacks and Grace surrounded Lee after the match. Mike Santana ran out and gave Stacks Spin the Block. Eddie Edwards then made his entrance and stayed in the crowd with a mic. Eddie talked about how Santana lets everyone get under his skin. Eddie then pointed out how he pinned Santana twice, and how Santana must have a bruised ego. Santana told Eddie to say that to his face like a man.
Eddie said no and said he already beat Santana tonight. He said he’ll beat Santana for a third time at Rebellion to become a three-time world champion. Eddie said Santana will be known as a man who couldn’t hold his emotions. Santana said he’ll stomp Eddie’s face out with his size 12 boots. Santana then hyped up the title match at rebellion to close the show…
But wait, there’s more. A post-credits stinger cinematic aired. Tessa Blanchard walked into a random lounge, where Sinister Minister James Mitchell told Tessa “welcome to the Undead Realm”. TNA Impact closed…
John’s Thoughts: Well, if you were going to punish someone for acting a fool, there’s no worse place then TNA’s cheap ass Undead Realm segments (but to TNA’s credit, their cinematic production has been better since moving to AMC). I’m still not the biggest fan of the magic and teleportation, and hope they don’t torture us with that (keep it more to mind games please?). Maybe they’ll surprise me, but they haven’t fully won me over with their quality control.
As for the Knockouts main event, very messy. It feels like they are going above and beyond to work around Arianna Grace’s limitations. Last time we saw her in full matches in NXT she didn’t seem “that bad.” Here, they’re having all the Stacks distractions. And what was that moment where Stacks actually put hands on Xia Brookside in front of the referee and Carlos Silva, and there was no DQ? That was some stupid LOL-TNA ish. This is why I found it odd for them to not keep the title belt on Kelani Jordan if they wanted a heel NXT wrestler to hold the belt, as Kelani can play a great heel and is terrific in the ring.
The show as a mixed bag episode for me. I think the everything after the main event entrances were kinda all over the place. At least they aren’t rushing a Rebellion card as they were putting in the footwork for building that card while building up Sacrifice.
Wow. I really want TNA to be good, but…